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The Maori Canoe

Canoes of the Paumotu Group

Canoes of the Paumotu Group

It has already been noted that the natives of the above group constructed large double deep-sea vessels. These pahi carried permanent masts fitted with shrouds and ratlines, as opposed to the sail with attached spars that was raised bodily when required and lowered when not required, such as were employed at New Zealand, the Society Group, and elsewhere.

A double canoe encountered at sea, out of sight of land, west of the Paumotu Group, by the voyagers Le Maire and Schouten, in 1616, was described as follows: "The vessel navigated by these islanders was formed of two large and handsome canoes, which were placed parallel and at a convenient distance (the Navigation Australe says, a fathom and a half) from each other. In the middle of each canoe a very broad, thick plank of a red-coloured wood, and very light, was placed lengthways upon its edge; across the two planks were laid some small beams, and upon the beams a platform of thin planks. The whole was compact and well fastened together. Over one part of the platform was a small shed of matting, under which the women and children remained. There was but one mast and one sail. The mast was fixed in a step towards the fore part of the starboard canoe; the sail was of triangular form, and attached to a yard which rested on the upper end of the mast, which was forked for the purpose. The vessel was steered with oars abaft. The sail was of matting, and towards the upper part of it there was marked a figure representing a cock…. Their cordage was well made. They were provided with hooks for fishing, the back part of which were of stone, and the hook or bearded part of bone, tortoise-shell, or mother-of-pearl. Everything appertaining to the vessel was neat and well fitted for sea."

The sail described above was apparently the true lateen sail.

Of two canoes examined at King George's isles, in the Paumotu Group, in 1765. Commodore Byron wrote: "One of them was thirty-two feet long, and the other somewhat less, but they were both of a very curious construction, and must have cost those who made them infinite labour. They consisted of planks exceedingly well wrought, page 321and in many places adorned with carving; these planks were sewed together, and over every seam was a strip of tortoise-shell, very artificially fastened, to keep out the water. Their bottoms were as sharp as a wedge, and they were very narrow, and therefore two of them were joined laterally together by a couple of strong spars, so that there was a space of about six or eight feet between them. A mast was hoisted in each of them, and the sail was spread between the masts. The sail, which I preserved, and which is now in my possession, is made of matting, and is as neat a piece of work as ever I saw. Their paddles were very curious, and their cordage was as good and as well laid as any in England, though it appeared to be made of the outer covering of the coconut. When these vessels sail, several men sit upon the spars which hold the canoes together."

He also mentions having seen at the same group "two or three very large vessels, one of which had two masts, and some cordage aloft to support them."

The strip of tortoise-shell used to cover joints takes the place of the wooden battens of the Maori canoe, and is probably the material covering joints of the Manihiki canoe already described. At a little distance it looks like a piece of thin iron hoop.

In the account of Wallis's voyage (1767) are given some notes on the Paumotu canoes. At one place were seen "seven large canoes, with two stout masts in each…. The canoes appeared to be about thirty feet long, four feet broad, and three-and-a-half feet deep. Two of these, being brought alongside of each other, were fastened together, at the distance of about three feet asunder, by cross-beams passing from the larboard gunwale of one to the starboard gunwale of the other, in the middle and near to each end."

Later, in landing on the island, these voyagers "saw several tools made of shells and stones, sharpened and fitted into handles, like adzes, chisels, and awls. They saw several canoes building, which are formed of planks, sewed together, and fastened to several small timbers that pass transversely along the bottom and up the sides."

The "small timbers" referred to would appear to be genuine ribs, though the canoe-makers had not advanced so far as to secure the planks to the ribs only; they were lashed to each other, thus the ribs were merely a secondary support. This practice is interesting as showing an advance on the Maori canoe, in which the tokai was a form of pseudo-rib that did not support the side planks in any way. It is interesting to note in various parts of the Pacific certain steps in the evolution of the built-up frame boat from the primitive dugout canoe.

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Of some small canoes seen at an island of the Paumotu Group in 1774 Forster wrote: "The canoes … were very short, but stout, and pointed at both ends, and had a sharp keel."

Of the natives of the Paumotu Group Ellis says: "They formerly built better vessels than any other nation in the eastern part of the ocean, and they are more daring and successful navigators than the more favoured and civilized tribes which they occasionally visit. Their canoes were dignified by the Tahitians with the name of pahi, a term applied only to their own war-canoes and vessels of foreigners, and they are still superior to any in this part of the Pacific."

In his Memorandum on the South Sea Islands Mr. H. B. Sterndale tells us that on some isles of the Paumotu Group are (or were) seen the remains of groves of gigantic tamanu trees. "I say 'remains' for the reason that this wood has from all time been in great request for the construction of canoes, and consequently was accounted very valuable. It seems incredible how in times past, before the introduction of iron tools into this region, the savages contrived to work it, as in hardness it is equal to mahogany; and the sight of the enormous stumps which remain in many places bears striking testimony to the patient ingenuity of the barbarian artificers who, with axes of stone, were able to cut down and hew into shape so intensely hard a material.

The following account of two double canoes seen at Raraka Isle is taken from Commander Wilkes's work on the United States Exploring Expedition, which reached the group in 1839: "They are thirty-five feet long and four-and-a-half feet wide, connected together by a strong framework, on which is placed a deck and a temporary hut is erected on their voyages. (See fig. 156.) Every part is neatly put together, and well secured with twine and sennit made of coconut fibres; no iron or metal of any kind is used in their construction; they have two masts, supported by vines in place of ropes, and are enabled to spread large mat sails; they steer with a large oar." A sketch given shows the visible hull to be composed of four pieces, the ends seemingly not square-cut but in form like a, one fitted into a slot of corresponding form in the other piece. Sketches, however, are often far from being reliable. The top-strake is a wide one, in three pieces—widest in the middle, as usual. There are three stays to each of the two masts; also, each has shrouds and attached ratlines or wood rungs extending from the hull to the tops. Each mast-top is furnished with a widely branched fork.

Another sketch given is that of a small longshore single canoe seen at the Island of Waituhi. It has an outrigger attached by two curved booms to the hull. Of these canoes Wilkes writes: "The page 323 Fig. 156 Double Canoe of Paumotu Group, showing Masts and Shrouds. From Commodore Wilkes's Narrative of the United States Exploring Expedition. Sketch by Miss E. Richardson canoes were quite small, being only from twelve to fifteen feet long. They generally contained two and sometimes three natives. Each canoe had an outrigger, and a projecting point, both before and behind, by which they get into them from the water. They are formed of strips of coconut wood sewed together. Two persons can carry them. Their paddles were curved backwards."